Cleveland Councilman Zack Reed, a candidate for mayor, outlines a program Thursday that would partner three neighborhood community development groups in Cleveland's Ward 2 to rehab empty houses while providing job skills to participants in the program.

Cleveland Councilman Zack Reed, a candidate for mayor, outlines a program Thursday that would partner three neighborhood community development groups in Cleveland's Ward 2 to rehab empty houses while providing job skills to participants in the program. (Robert Higgs, cleveland.com)

The program, Building Futures, will partner with Passages, a faith-based, non-profit organization that will help match people released from prisons with job training as they re-enter society.

Reed, a candidate for mayor of Cleveland, is pitching the program as a way to save some abandoned houses while providing job training that he argues will help reduce violence in Cleveland neighborhoods.

Reed's ward, which includes the Mount Pleasant, Union-Miles and Mill Creek Falls neighborhoods, has been plagued by crime and poverty.

"This whole program is about reducing violence in the city of Cleveland," Reed said Thursday at a news conference in front of a home to be rehabbed on Reno Avenue in the Union-Miles neighborhood.

What's the plan?

Three neighborhood development corporations -- Union Miles Development Corp. Slavic Village Development and Mount Pleasant NOW Development Corp. -- will identify houses that can be restored at a reasonable cost - about $25,000 to $30,000, said Thomas Stone, executive director of Mount Pleasant NOW.

Those houses can then be put back on the market for $40,000 to $50,000.

The development corporations already own some of the houses. The house on Reno Avenue, for example, already is owned by Union Miles Development and would be the first to be rehabbed in the program.

Others could be available through the Cuyahoga County Land Bank for little or no cost, said Roshawn Sample, executive director of Union Miles Development Corp.

How will it work?

Mount Pleasant NOW's Nehemiah Program will teach soft skills, such as time management, needed to hold a job. It also will work with contractors to teach hard skills needed to do tasks such as flooring, drywall and painting. Participants in the Nehemiah Program are paid $10 an hour for days they are working on hard skills.

Union-Miles Development has its own training programs that will be used in the partnership. One offers pre-apprenticeship training needed for workers seeking licensing for trades such as electrical work. Another program, which teaches landscaping skills, will be used at every house that is rehabbed.

Passages will help identify potential participants as they are released from prison.

Reed has committed nearly $50,000 of the casino revenues that council members have for use as ward resources to help seed the program. He intends to put in $50,000 more this summer.

The charitable St. Luke's Foundation also has pledged support. Money will be sought from other foundations, Sample said, and the sale of houses in the program will bring money back into the program.

What do other mayoral candidates say?

Reed is one of several people vying to be mayor of Cleveland. All have raised the condition of neighborhoods as a key issue facing the city.

Mayor Frank Jackson, who is seeking an unprecedented fourth 4-year term, included housing rehabilitation in a neighborhood initiative he unveiled last month. That plan would target $65 million in public and private money at specific corridors in Cleveland for redevelopment assistance.

Developers would be able to get aid for rehabbing houses that can still be salvaged. Homeowners would be able to get help paying for maintenance and improvements.

Councilman Jeff Johnson said Thursday he will soon unveil his own housing plan that will have a rehabilitation component. It, too, will have a component that helps homeowners, particularly seniors, maintain their houses, he said.

While he had not specifically seen Reed's plan, he said providing ex-offenders with second chances is a good idea.

State Rep. Bill Patmon also said housing in neighborhoods is an issue that needs to be addressed. "Cleveland needs more good ideas," Patmon said.

Brandon Chrostowski, the founder of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute on Shaker Square, said the effort reminds him of his work to teach former prisoners the restaurant trade.

"It's good to see people emulating my nationally recognized model from EDWINS," he said. "I've made clear in my platform that I intend to expand my job training efforts city-wide with centers that focus on the tech industry and the skilled trades. Helping men and women returning home from prison is something I've done for years. If this rehab project will help revitalize the neighborhood, then I'm all for it, I just have to wonder why Mr. Reed waited until an election year to implement this initiative?"

Robert Kilo questioned the timing of the program announcement.

"This is an election year and now all of a sudden proposals are being introduced by elected officials to address neighborhoods that have been crying out for help for years," Kilo said. "We need new leadership that will bring a citywide vision that will inspire all neighborhoods to rise together."

Cleveland.com sought comment from other candidates, too. As they respond their answers will be added to this story.

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